No association between the serotonin transporter linked polymorphic region polymorphism and severity of posttraumatic stress disorder symptoms in combat veterans with or without comorbid depression (original) (raw)
Related papers
Anxiety, Stress, & Coping, 2014
Background-Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), depression, anxiety, and stress are significant problems among returning veterans and are associated with reduced quality of life. Design-A correlational design was used to examine the impact of a polymorphism (5-HTTLPR) in the serotonin transporter promoter gene on post-deployment adjustment among returning veterans. Methods-A total of 186 returning Iraq and Afghanistan veterans were genotyped for the 5-HTTLPR polymorphism. Symptoms of PTSD, depression, general stress, and anxiety were assessed along with quality of life. Results-After controlling for combat exposure, age, sex of the participant, and race, 5-HTTLPR had a significant multivariate effect on post-deployment adjustment, such that S′ carriers reported more post-deployment adjustment problems and worse quality of life than veterans homozygous for the L′ allele. This effect was larger when the analyses were restricted to veterans of European ancestry.
Journal of Affective Disorders, 2003
The serotonergic system is implicated in the pathophysiology of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and depression. The present study focused on platelet serotonin (5-HT) concentration and symptoms of comorbid depression in war veterans with or without PTSD. PTSD and depression were evaluated using Clinician Administered PTSD Scale, Davidson Trauma Scale, Montgomery-Asberg Depression Rating Scale and Hamilton Anxiety Scale. Sixty-five male drug-free war veterans (48 with PTSD and 17 without PTSD) and 65 age- and sex-matched healthy controls were studied. Comorbid depression occurred in 54 and 31% of war veterans with PTSD and without PTSD, respectively. Platelet 5-HT concentration was similar in the groups of depressed and nondepressed war veterans with or without PTSD and healthy controls. Platelet 5-HT concentration was found to differ between war veterans with various degrees of appetite loss. A positive correlation was observed between platelet 5-HT concentration and severity of appetite loss in veterans with PTSD. There was no relationship between platelet 5-HT concentration and severity of other symptoms of PTSD or depression. War veterans included in the study were outpatients. War veterans with PTSD had a high incidence of comorbid depression, that was not related to platelet 5-HT concentration. The marked relationship between platelet 5-HT concentration and severity of appetite loss, suggested that 5-HT system is involved in the regulation of appetite, at least in depressed war veterans with PTSD.
Depression and Anxiety, 2009
Background-Genetic polymorphisms that influence serotonin (5-hydroxytryptamine, 5HT) neurotransmission are candidates for contributing to susceptibility to posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). The objective of our study was to determine if a variable length polymorphism for the promoter regions of the 5HT transporter (5HTTLPR), and/or a substitution polymorphism in the promoter region for the 5HT2A receptor, would be associated with PTSD in a trauma exposed population of adult African-Americans.
Posttraumatic stress disorder and platelet serotonin measures
Journal of Psychiatric Research, 2000
The role of serotonin (5HT) in the pathophysiology of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) has been suggested by the overlap in clinical symptoms between PTSD and psychiatric conditions in which a serotonin dysfunction is implicated, as well as by the therapeutic eciency of 5HT-related drugs (antidepressants, selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors and monoamine oxidase inhibitors) in alleviating symptoms in PTSD. In the present study, the blood platelet, which has been proposed as a peripheral model for the central serotonergic neurons, has been used to search for alterations in 5HT mechanisms in PTSD. Platelet serotonin level and kinetics of serotonin transporter and monoamine oxidase (MAO-B) were assessed in 63 combatrelated PTSD patients and 43 sex and age-matched control subjects. A signi®cant reduction in maximal velocity of platelet MAO-B (approx. 30%), with no changes in the enzyme anity was observed in our patient sample. Conversely, no alterations in kinetic parameters (V max , K m ) of platelet serotonin transporter, as well as in platelet 5HT level, were found in the PTSD group. 7
Advances in genetics research
The results of some studies suggest that the serotonin transporter-linked polymorphic region (5-HTTLPR) short (S) allele, relative to the long (L) allele, is associated with risk for Major Depressive Disorder (MDD), and thus serves as a biomarker for MDD, while results from other studies do not support that conclusion. Persons with an S allele demonstrate a 2- to 2.5 fold decrease in serotonin transcription rate compared to the L-allele, which may increase their risk for MDD. Differences in study populations may help explain the differences in findings between those meta-analyses. To date, there have been no published reports which have addressed the possible association between the S allele and MDD among military veterans. This manuscript describes a first study to assess the possible association of the S allele with MDD among a study population of veterans in treatment for a substance use disorder. We hypothesized that the S allele would be associated with MDD in our study sample....
Platelet serotonergic markers in posttraumatic stress disorder
Progress in Neuro-Psychopharmacology and Biological Psychiatry, 2002
The neurobiological basis of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is believed to involve alterations in different neurotransmitter systems, and recent studies elucidated the role of serotonin (5-hydroxytryptamine, 5-HT) in PTSD. The data on the role of 5-HT have been obtained using blood platelets as a peripheral model for central serotonergic neurons. The reports suggested that platelet 5-HT concentration and monoamine oxidase (MAO) activity might serve as biological, even trait, markers for particular mental disturbances.
Biological Psychiatry, 1999
Background: Combat-related posttraumatic stress disorder (CR-PTSD) is associated with a dysregulation of various neurotransmitter systems. Methods: We assessed levels of platelet-poor plasma (PPP) norepinephrine (NE), and serotonin (5-HT), and 24-hour urinary excretion of NE, dopamine (DA), and homovanillic acid (HVA) in 17 male outpatients with untreated chronic CR-PTSD (age, 33.1 Ϯ 7.4 years) and 10 normal control subjects (age, 35.8 Ϯ 2.7 years). Results: Compared with the control subjects, the PTSD patients showed significantly lower PPP 5-HT levels, elevated PPP NE levels, and significantly higher mean 24-hour urinary excretion of all three catecholamines (NE, DA, and HVA). The 24-hour urinary HVA values of the CR-PTSD patients correlated significantly and positively with the total Impact of Event Scale scores and the avoidance symptoms cluster scores, and the PPP 5-HT levels correlated negatively with the Hamilton Anxiety Rating Scale scores. The PPP NE/5-HT ratio was significantly higher in the study group than in the control subjects. Conclusions: We believe this combined enhanced noradrenergic activity and diminished 5-HT activity may be relevant to the neurobiology of CR-PTSD.
American Journal of Epidemiology, 2009
Although both genetic factors and features of the social environment are important predictors of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), there are few data examining gene-social environment interactions in studies of PTSD. The authors examined whether features of the social environment (county-level crime rate and unemployment) modified the association between the serotonin protein gene (SLC6A4) promoter variant (5-HTTLPR) and risk of current PTSD in a sample of 590 participants from the 2004 Florida Hurricane Study. Interviews conducted in 2005 were used to obtain individual-level risk factor measures and Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fourth Edition, PTSD diagnoses. DNA was extracted from salivary samples. County-level crime and unemployment rates were assessed from Federal Bureau of Investigation and US Census data, respectively. There was a significant interaction between 5-HTTLPR genotype and both crime rate (odds ratio ¼ 2.68, 95% confidence interval: 1.09, 6.57) and unemployment rate (odds ratio ¼ 3.67, 95% confidence interval: 1.42, 9.50) in logistic regression models predicting PTSD risk, after adjustment for individual-level determinants of PTSD. Stratified analyses indicated that the ''s'' allele of the 5-HTTLPR polymorphism was associated with decreased risk of PTSD in low-risk environments (low crime/unemployment rates) but increased risk of PTSD in high-risk environments. These results suggest that social environment modifies the effect of 5-HTTLPR genotype on PTSD risk. ).